Cailin: Welcome everyone to Faith and Purpose podcast.
Each episode of this podcast contains the personal testimony of an ordinary person
transformed by an extraordinary God.
My name is Caitlin and I'm here to introduce this podcast
for my friend Jesse Duke.
Jesse is a husband, father, author, life recovery guide, lay counselor,
and small group leader, but his most important role is disciple.
As a disciple of Jesus.
Jesse created this podcast to help other believers tell their faith stories.
We'll be hearing the personal testimonies of all sorts of people
who have one thing in common, Jesus has transformed their lives.
Jesus used parables because he created us to learn best through story.
And as we listen to how God has worked in others lives, we find encouragement
and inspiration for our own faith walk.
Whether you are already a believer, or just a curious seeker, we believe that
as you listen to these stories, you will be encouraged on your own faith journey.
We are sure that God can speak to you through one of these episodes, and that
you will see that our Heavenly Father truly works all things together for
our good, When we simply love and trust him if you are currently going through
a trial We believe that you will come to see that your troubles Heartbreaks
and failures are not gravestones, but stepping stones into new life in Christ.
Here's Jesse with today's guest
Hey, this is Jessie duke.
Today.
We're very fortunate to have Allie Waller to interview my wife, Becky duke.
I think you're gonna enjoy this.
Ally: Well, hello, everyone.
My name's Allie Waller, and I'm here with my Aunt Becky to
hear her story this afternoon.
one thing that I remember when I was actually young, Aunt Becky, started
getting everyone's marriage stories and she ended up publishing a book
of marriage stories And so that has always been special to me that she
found it very important to get to know everyone's story So I'm excited
today to hear a lot of her story.
So hello aunt Becky
Allie.
It's so great to be with you.
You know, I love to be with you.
Becky: And I love to be with you.
Ally: Thank you.
Well, tell us a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your story.
Okay.
Well, in, in thinking about my story and what we would talk about today,
the the word that came up was, hope.
I'm a person of hope and I always hope for a better future or for upliftment
or hope, hope in God or hope in my family, hope in a better world.
So, that's, that's kind of where I want to start.
I'll just tell you about my life and there have been many times in my life
when I, just couldn't, feel the hope.
Those times have been rare.
And so, anyway, I'll begin.
I, I was born in Mullins, South Carolina.
And I was raised in Lakeview, South Carolina.
My parents, Jesse and Anna Frances Ford, raised five children.
And I'm the middle of the five.
I have lots of, uh, nieces and nephews.
I mean a lot of nieces and nephews.
And my family has always kept me grounded.
, When I was a little girl, I was a precocious little girl.
I did, I did things that I'm sure my mother, uh, was concerned about.
One thing I remember is her telling me that I ran away when
I was about four years old.
I ran away to my grandmother's house, and, because my sister was there and I
wanted to be there too, and she said, Mama said that someone called her and
said that I had, uh, crossed a highway, and she thought, she wasn't sure it
was me, but she wanted Mother to check.
Heh heh.
my.
Indeed it was me, it was me,
And you survived that
I survived that one, and then later on as, when I was a little bit older, I,
mama took me to church for some type of bible study as a little girl, little,
little little girl, I mean, really young.
I decided after the service that there, I wanted to go to the, uh, big auditorium
where people were having another service.
So instead of waiting for mom or whatever, I just walked into
the building and had a seat.
And how did I know that that was not a good thing?
The police came in and picked me up and told me I needed
to go talk to my mom and dad.
Becky: Oh no.
Ally: I was having a good time listening to a service, uh, you know, and it
sounded like a good thing to me.
Anyway, I was born in a small hometown.
It was a farming community, and, being small, it felt more like
a big family than a small town.
And, in the summers, we took vacations, to the beach, and, I remember things
like going to Bible school, Mom and Dad had us go to Bible school, and, when
I was in elementary school, I, I loved learning, and I didn't mind studying,
and the teachers would have me help other people in class, if they got
stuck, and Let's say a math problem.
And I love doing that.
I love doing that.
So, going back to our vacations in the summertime, in about 1954 or 5, I think
it's 55, my parents started taking us to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina,
about an hour away, they didn't know that they were starting a tradition.
And, uh, a tradition that has lasted almost 70 years.
Our family, this family, mom and dad's children, grandchildren, and
so on, have kept up this tradition.
So once a year we meet at Ocean Isle Beach for a week, sometimes two weeks.
And you're a part of that, and
Becky: Yes.
Ally: that, haven't we, Allie?
Becky: Yes.
It's very, it's a very, very special time.
And a lot of people say, how can, how can you be that with your family that long?
Well, we do.
And it's a
blast.
Ally: Yes it is.
And you know, there are ups and downs in any family, but, but our
family just works through them.
You know, they take space if they need it, whatever, but they work through
it and we seem to get along real well.
Um, I think that's the blessing of the parents we've had, you know.
And the parents of nieces and nephews So going back to
elementary school, I enjoyed school.
And I enjoyed church.
And school and church at that time, this was in the 50s and 60s.
That was our life in a small community like we live in.
That was my life.
I liked extracurricular things.
Learned to play the piano when I was in second grade.
And so by the time I was older, the church needed a pianist,
so they asked me to be that.
And I did that, I guess, through my twelfth grade year.
And enjoyed that and, um, I enjoyed being in trios in church
with my sister and my girlfriend.
And, thinking about elementary school too, I loved recess because I liked to be
outside and I liked to be, and at that age I loved to be playing sports like softball
and, um, anything I could do outside.
There were swings and there were monkey bars and we played
on the monkey bars and, um.
Had good teachers, was really cared about and loved.
One teacher I had in fourth grade, she lived near the school.
And she was, she was always sending me on errands to her house.
Becky: Oh, wow.
Ally: do that anymore.
That is not something that People do.
But I walked through her house, went into her house, got what
she needed, brought it back.
So that's a good memory of, Mrs.
Eatman, my fourth grade teacher.
Becky: She must have trusted you to let her
go, let you go all the way to her house.
Ally: uh, yeah, she was wonderful.
And, um, so high school came along, and I'm a type of person, I just
like to be involved in things.
I've always been like that, and I still am.
But, when I was in high school, I was, in a Dixieland band, it
was called the Swing Dingers.
And we traveled.
Really in o into other states as these young musicians just having a good time.
And people seemed to enjoy that Dixon land music.
So We had fun doing that.
I was in four HI, I was in a lot of clubs in high school, FH, a future, uh,
future Homemaker, which turned into Ft.
A Future teacher, I ended up being a teacher.
Uh, for 42 years, actually, in the public and private schools.
But anyway, these clubs encouraged me to do the things in life I, I needed
to do and wanted to do and, and God had blessed me with the skills to do.
So, I played basketball in high school, probably in middle, junior, they
called it junior high at that time.
Grade 7 through 12 went to the high school.
And, um, anyway, I played basketball and, um, I was very active.
I, uh, I was a cheerleader.
I enjoyed being a cheerleader.
I was in band and I enjoyed that.
I, I love music.
I'm a musician.
Of course, of course, I love music.
Becky: Yes.
Ally: and I, I had not yet learned to say no in my life to different
things that people asked me to do.
So, God was working on me.
He gave me a very challenging senior year.
And I don't think I breathed that year because I was just,
I was in so much activity.
So, uh, that taught me a good lesson.
It taught me.
Becky, you have to say no and you have to limit yourself.
But one of those things that I loved doing also in high school was 4 H.
I ended up being state 4 H president.
So, I was invited to go to State Congress in Washington.
Uh, two 4 H members from each state were picked to go to 4 H Congress.
And we went to Washington and were treated just royally.
And that gave me so much confidence, I guess you could say.
It increased my confidence.
I never was a good speaker.
I never was, but I You know, I'd have to speak at the end.
I didn't feel confident doing that, but I did.
And So, I've told you pretty much about my high school years, and
then I went to a college, called Winthrop in South Carolina.
It was a girls school at that time, and um, I know that I began to
pull away from God's presence in my life during these years, because I,
unfortunately, I was not so happy at Winthrop, uh, during those years.
It's a different school now, it's a wonderful school, but
at that time it, I had no car.
I actually had no way of getting to church.
I, I think, just not having enough church activity just kind
of drew me back into the world.
And long hours of study, and I had to study hard.
and really not enough outside activities.
And, the church I did go to was very unfulfilling, it just
didn't feel right in my heart.
So I couldn't get close to the, I guess you could say the
congregation, it just, anyway.
So what I decided to do then was to finish college in three years, which a
lot of girls at that time were doing.
So I, I did finish in three years, I had to go summer and winter.
And that, too, I think, cut into my, spiritual growth.
I think the times in our lives that we, uh, kind of are real close to God, and
then we draw back, and we're not as close.
And then we get close again, and then we draw back, and we're not as close.
So, I was in, when I was in college, I was in one of those periods, I just would not.
Feeling close.
So, when I was in college, I, um, my courses were an elementary education.
I knew I wanted to be a teacher and I had taking care of children at,
at church when I was in high school and middle school I had taught
little classes and things like that.
So teaching just seemed to be a normal thing for me, so that's what I
became, an elementary school teacher.
And my first teaching job when I graduated from college was
in Beaufort, South Carolina.
And St.
Helen is an island off of, uh, Buford.
And it was during this time Our schools were beginning to integrate.
And, uh, my last year of high school, and through these college years,
and then the first years of teaching were all years of integration.
And so what they did with me when I went to Buford, I taught.
And what at that time was considered a white school.
And they integrated the teachers and they sent me to St.
Helena's Island.
to be in what at that time was called a black school.
So teachers were integrating first and then the students
were gradually integrating.
Uh, it was a, it was a wonderful time in my life because I loved, I loved the
schools that I was, uh, teaching in.
Both, both of the schools in Beaufort.
But in this time of my life, I was putting God on a back burner.
I mean, I knew God was in my life.
I knew I could call on God, but I did not, um.
I didn't do much studying and much, I didn't have a passion
to, study more, you know.
Becky: Had you found a church at this point or not?
Ally: Not one that I felt close to, to go into again.
I don't know if that was me or if it was the church, I think it was me, you know.
I was going, I was in my 20s and 20s are not easy.
20s are just not easy.
So, I was kind of, out of the, uh, passion for church and pulled
into the worldly things that were going on as a young, single woman.
I just wanted to do different things, go to parties, um, travel a
little bit, um, but in the meantime of doing all that, I met my first
husband, Joe, and he was a character.
I was really attracted to him and he he was in my rancor and he, Uh, was
stationed there and so we ended up marrying and it, it was, the marriage
ended up not being good because alcohol was involved in the marriage.
And I didn't know during the 70 years I was married to him
that there were drugs too.
I, I had no idea that was going on.
So it caused a real schism in our And we just ended up not liking each other.
And that, that's the honest truth.
I don't know how to express it any better.
Although I know he was a good person at heart.
Um, the, that, the addictions I would call them, uh, were.
And after seven years, we did divorce and so then I went
into, uh, I went to a Christian counselor and he really helped me.
I began, he helped me to get my self confidence back because I had
lost a lot of that in this marriage.
And, um, and then I Um, one way I helped myself, also, besides getting
the counseling, I got on a tour bus and toured all the way across the
United States and around and, and back.
It was probably about a two or three week tour.
And it gave me a chance to, to kind of focus on how I had been drawn into that
marriage, what had, uh, gone wrong.
Uh, what, my part in it, what I could do to try to change my life, and,
and it, that trip really helped.
So, I was single for the next five years, and I spent that time.
Honestly, improving myself, being honest with my, downfalls, and, so it began a
new journey for me, it began a journey in trying to figure out why I was here
on this earth, what was my purpose, and what did, what were my belief systems,
what was truly my belief system, not something that had been taught to me,
but something I believed in my heart, So I, began to study world religions
because I wanted to find out how those religions, what they had in common.
And so, I, You know, I ended up studying, and I ended up, um, meeting a person
who kind of soared me into a new life.
And that was Dr.
Helen Billings.
She was founder of the Montessori Institute of America.
I heard her speak one night, and she said to me, she said, Thank you, Becky.
No, I went to her, I asked to have lunch with her one day.
And at that lunch she said to me, after we talked about two or three hours,
she said, You need me and I need you.
I need you to go overseas for me and help start a monastery
school in Jerusalem, Israel.
And you need me.
because you need to take the Montessori training through me.
This will prepare you to go.
Now, you don't have to teach, but I want you to oversee three teachers.
And they were three Palestinian teachers who were being trained here in the
United States in Kansas City, Missouri.
And I was to go back with them and help set up the school that
they So, I did that for a year.
Certainly a turning point in my life.
Bringing me closer to God.
Uh, I think, having worked on myself internally, I was able
to get closer to God, actually.
And, well, now I know that God lives in me, but at that time,
that was not really clear to me.
So, I went to Israel and I actually was overseen by the Christian
brothers, who ran the school where the monastery, sorry, school was.
It was inside the old city of Jerusalem at Newgate.
And, um, so I live with a Muslim family.
An older woman, she was in her 80s.
She rented out her apartments.
And the Christian brothers would invite me at times to eat with them
because I, I really didn't have a kitchen in my apartment or anything.
So, what I learned about, um, Christian fellowship sometimes
is they have problems too.
And, and that was a, a, a really important, uh, because I realized that,
um, there was goodness everywhere, but there was also turmoil in a
lot of these, uh, communities, I would say, Christian communities.
but they were good to me.
They took me on tours.
They fed me many times.
Um, they let me, Celebrate some of their, um, celebrations with them.
Uh, and they were not used to having a woman around.
So, this was a big deal for them.
And it certainly was for me.
And, uh, but God led me through that.
And I knew God was with me.
Leading me through all of that.
Becky: So that, you were there for, for one year.
Ally: I was there for a year.
Becky: Okay.
Ally: Yeah, And then I came home, when I came home to the United States, the
people who, from Kansas City, friends of mine who owned a Montessori school,
they oversaw me in, in Jerusalem, and when I came home, they wanted me to go
to Kansas City and work in their school.
They had an opening and, So, I did that.
I thought that was wonderful.
I've always had this, uh, wanderlust.
Just like when I was a little girl.
Doing things on my own.
Going places on my own.
That has always been in my life.
So, I went, I went to Kansas City, not knowing how long I'd be there.
Ended up being there for about five, six years.
I think I was, six years I worked in a monastery school there.
And, while I was there, um, a lot of peace came in my life.
I found a church called Unity Church.
It's not Unitarian, it's Unity.
Unity is a Christian church, and it taught me a softer vocabulary.
I guess you could say a softer way of worship.
And it appealed to me very, very much.
And so I would go to hear speakers and And they brought up, brought
in some pretty interesting speakers and it just changed my life.
Another avenue of changing my life, turning me around, pointing
me toward God again, yeah.
And so a good thing that happened is that in one of their courses, they call it
the Course in Miracles, I met my husband.
thing that ever happened to me in my life is meeting this man.
And he was, he was in the chorus.
We were sitting around in a circle.
I didn't know him.
He didn't know me.
But we started talking.
And it didn't take a whole lot of talk for me to realize what a good man he is.
He is and was, and he was going to Theological School to become a minister.
Um, there was a point in there where he decided that was not for him, but, um, he
still went to the, went to his speakers and went to these courses and all.
It's a wonderful philosophy.
It started in the late 1800s.
with, Myrtle Filmore and her husband.
And they had a gift of healing.
She had a gift of healing.
And people would come to her house and, through Jesus Christ she would heal them.
So, there I was in the 19, 80s, going to this, unity gathering.
I also was very fortunate not only to meet my husband, but to
meet my spiritual leader, who taught me so much about myself.
And he was, boldly honest with me and he, you know, when I would be talking
to him, like you talk to a counselor, he would stop me and he would say,
now, you know, that's not true.
What you're saying about this, this, this, this, and it, it, it transformed me.
That's the only, that's the best word to, to, this experience with
this, uh, teacher called Steve.
His name is Steve.
He had a lot of people he was working with at that time.
We became friends and, uh, did things together and it was, it was really good
for, for me to have that experience.
in the meantime, Jessie's dad passed away in Tampa, Florida.
And so Jesse and I decided to move back to the southeast to be near our families.
My family is in South Carolina and his was in Tampa, Florida.
So we moved in between those two.
towns, And we found a wonderful place to live.
It's called Amelia Island, Florida.
It's, and we lived on the beach, on Amelia, called Fernandina Beach.
And actually, people don't realize this, but most of Amelia
Island is Fernandina Beach.
Jesse and I have lived here, almost 40 years, after I taught, got back
into the public school system and taught, um, although I taught 42
years, I taught 26 years in the middle school here in Fernandina Beach,
Becky: Did your, did you let your students walk to your house like
your teacher let you walk to hers?
No,
no,
Ally: good question.
And when I lived with my first husband, I taught in a little place called Hofstra,
Florida, which was about an hour away.
So I would bring children on the weekend to my house.
And I would bring a different groove.
I could not do anything like that now.
But at that time in my life, that was real important.
They were like my family because I remember children I was teaching in
Becky: yes.
Ally: So yeah, so to answer your question, yeah.
Some have come here,
but nothing like that.
And a lot of them ended up coming here.
A lot of the students I taught ended up in the church, Presbyterian
Church, that Jesse and I decided we would go to, and we did for 20 years.
the Presbyterian Church was really good for me, helped me to, to learn,
to just, to enjoy church and to enjoy the children and, um, have,
meet new friends and good friends.
And, another aspect of my life that had began to really blossom,
um, it started in Kansas City.
My husband's NAA, and when we met, The way we dated at first in Kansas
City is he would take me to open AA meetings and I'd never heard of AA.
I certainly didn't know what an open AA meeting was.
so I would go to these meetings and I, I remember the first one I ever went to with
him in Kansas City, I was so startled.
I was, I could not believe that these room full of Uh, people were so honest with
each other, telling things about their lives that you just don't do, you know.
Uh, I didn't, I never did that in the church.
I, I never heard, heard of that, quite to that extent.
And they, they seemed to love each other.
They, these AA members seemed to care about each other.
They had baseball games together.
They Uh, met for lunch together.
They, they were a family.
I didn't understand it, and a family.
I, I, I, do now, but I didn't then.
So I'm telling you that, to tell you that that followed us to that kind of,
uh, those organizations we were able to find in Fernandina when we moved here.
And Jesse Went to AA meetings.
I went to Al Anon meetings.
Al Anon is the support group for families who have or have had alcoholism in their
life or addiction, alcohol addiction.
And Al Anon, in the Al Anon group, I've been a member of almost 40 years now.
Um, we, we were, we became a family too, of people who would speak honestly
in these meetings that we, we have together, had together, and have together.
Um, it's hard for families of people with addictions to know where to go.
to find someone who understands.
That's what our organization is about, Al Anon.
And Al Anon also teaches us to set boundaries in our own life, to find out
about what's going in our own lives.
We've been so busy helping other people, Enabling other people
that we, we need, we need to know where, where to set boundaries.
So, you learn all that in these Allenite meetings.
You learn about boundaries and enabling and, um, what addiction truly is.
Addiction, it didn't stem from a moral problem, it stem, it's a disease.
And, so we, a lot of people come to Al Anon and don't know that.
And they come to Al Anon to find out how to cure their addicted person and, but
you learn in Al Anon you can't do that.
Cannot do that.
what I have learned is that the best teacher for an addicted person is a
person who has been addicted and has worked their way out of that addiction.
So, In our home, I'd never seen Jesse take a drink, I'd never
ever have seen him take a drink.
Because I met him when he was two years into the program.
But, still, the characteristics of alcoholism, and al anon ism, are in any
home where there has been addiction, or could be addiction, or is addiction.
So you have to learn how it's going to affect your family
and what you can do about it.
What you can do to help your family, So I say that because
that's been a big part of my life.
I talk about that a lot because it's been a big part of my life.
I like to go to meetings.
I like to chair meetings.
And I like to sponsor.
in the, in the Al Anon program.
Most of Al Anon, uh, the people who come to Al Anon are women, but some, there
are men too, men too who have, who have had to deal with it, their families.
And there are more, more men coming now, and I'm so happy about that.
And also people with, people, uh, families of people who have addictions
to other, uh, Like drug, like heroin or all the drugs that are out there,
they come too, because they realize that they can get a lot of, out of, um,
alcoholic, alanine addiction program.
And so, um, anyway, any questions about any of that?
Becky: Yeah.
So you mentioned that your first marriage, alcohol kind
of was a, was a struggle.
Um, did that make you nervous going into a
relationship with Jesse?
Ally: Yes, it did.
It absolutely did.
But when I found out he, he was in, uh, AA and I learned about what AA was,
and he was, had such a passion for it.
I was able to know what I wanted and didn't want.
Right.
that's the best way to put it.
Yeah.
you saw, you saw that Jesse was working on his spiritual growth.
Yes.
And interestingly, um, things, things in a family, as you know, You have periods
of really having, uh, challenging times together and, you know, children come
along and then you have to agree on a philosophy that works for the two
of you with that child and so forth.
So, in, in our marriage, we have gone through periods, ups and downs
like that and the, the, um, the thing that brought us together were
these meetings that we'd get to.
He would go to his meetings, talk to his friends about what he was going through.
I'd go to my meetings and talk to my friends about what I was going through.
And then, uh, and we don't mind, Jesse and I don't mind going to council,
to say that we've done that too.
And, and another good thing that we did for each other, or had to do,
particularly in the first part of our marriage, was to write letters.
Uh, that, uh, writing letters when you're upset with somebody takes
the emotion out of the situation so that you can, they can see what,
how you're thinking and vice versa.
So, we did that and that was really helpful.
Even when we had a child, we, we did that.
And, um, so, so talking about child, It was later in life.
I was 46 before we adopted a child.
We couldn't have children, so we went to China to, uh, pick up our child.
We were there for two weeks, and we were in training, so to speak,
and, um, we brought her back.
And she was six months old when we got her, six or seven months old.
And, um, it was not an easy time because I had not had a baby before.
I had to learn to be a mother to a baby and to teach, and
I was still teaching school.
And, Um, go into church and just, and, and so I had to learn what it
was to take care of a child 24 7.
I never had to take care of anybody 24 7.
So, at 46 that was not an easy thing to do, but I'm so glad.
I mean, she has brought, she has brought us so much joy.
She's taught me about patience and kindness and deep joy, selflessness.
And, and we, uh, had, were involved in activities that I, I, I would
have never been involved in.
she was, when she was in early school, she took gymnastics, and then she
did soccer, and of course I had her in a Montessori school for about
five years, four or five years.
And she, uh, later joined the band and, was on my flag team in high school.
Um, she went to church, too, through all this, even through high school, and,
um, we did change churches, um, because she wanted to go to another church, and
we knew that there were a lot of young people at this other church, and she just
liked the atmosphere, and so for three years, we took her there, anyway, you,
you do for your children what you, feel like you have to do to, to make them, uh,
happier, to bring more joy in their life.
And I remember even as a senior in high school, I remember
seeing her in this other church.
We worked together and she was taking notes.
She was taking notes.
I wasn't even taking notes of the sermons.
My daughter was taking notes.
So, Um, so she's taught us a lot, and she's still teaching us a lot.
We've, we've, we've got a lot to learn, and, uh, we're still learning.
But the nice thing about her childhood is we lived in a cul de sac, and we
still live there, and there were a lot of children in the cul de sac.
So she spent a lot of time outside.
She, she, like me, loved to be outside.
And, uh, I had a lot of children come into our home.
Um, a lot of parties that, uh, we set up, and we took Hannah also on trips.
We took her on a lot of trips.
As a matter of fact, she and my husband, her ninth or tenth grade
year, climbed the highest mountain in Colorado, Mount Elbert, and she, she
had gone on walks and things like that.
She had never climbed a mountain, and it was pretty traumatic.
For her, but she, she learned a lot, and as did we.
We, maybe we should have waited a year or two to take her.
But, but that was, that's the kind of activity we wanted for her.
She was an outdoor person.
She loves animals.
She loves, loves wolves.
Particularly at that time, she was really into wolves.
So we took her to, uh, wolf sanctuaries and, um, any type of
nature program we could get her in.
So, um, so, what has the last 10 years of my life been like?
I have, um, it's been nice in my retirement, these 10, I think it's been
12 years now, to, to, um, be at home.
I feel like I'm finally a homemaker.
You know,
yeah.
that gave me a long time to, it took me a while to adjust to that, but I love it.
And, um, because I'm home now, my relationship with
God has deepened even more.
I've spent a lot of time talking to God now, and I'm in Bible studies that I
didn't have a chance to really be in.
earlier and, my life has evolved into, less of me and more of God.
And, uh, you know, once I learned that God lived in me, lives in my
spirit, and works from the inside out, I, I was so amazed and so happy
to learn that it changed my life.
And also, there are, Christian ministries that really emphasize healing a lot,
not just a little bit, but a lot.
And I have had all my life a propensity to work with the healing of people, whether
it be mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, financially.
And so, I've been doing a lot of that in my last 12 years at
home.
I've learn more about letting go of regrets in my life.
and truly trusting that God has taken the, uh, emotional, um, hold
on my life that they have had.
God has just taking a lot of that away.
And, I've used the principles of Al Anon to deepen also, deepen myself.
And, that's pretty much what my life is now.
I, I'm I'm, I'm, I'm available to God every day now.
All day long, I'm just saying, Where do you want me next?
What do you want me to say?
Who do you want to teach me?
Open my ears so I can learn.
And help me not to be pushy with any of that.
Just, uh, follow your guidance.
And, You know, in the last few years, true, that guidance has come through
who Jesus left for us, the Holy Spirit.
I didn't know about the Holy Spirit growing up.
I heard the name a lot.
I didn't know about the personal relationship that was important
to have with the Holy Spirit.
So I started finding ways to listen to what Holy Spirit was saying to me.
Trying to figure out the voice that the Holy Spirit was using.
And how to make sure it was Holy Spirit speaking into my, into my
inner self, uh, I found ways to.
to do that.
so as my days and my love for God has grown, my being able to listen
to Holy Spirit better has grown.
And then I now I just say, I ask a lot of yes and no.
questions.
I say, is this, is this what you want me to do?
Or is this what you want me to write?
Or is this who you want me to call?
Or is this where you want me to go?
And I get that quick answer.
And, and, also when I lose something, which is not hard at my
age, when I lose something, I say, Holy Spirit, just, just tell me.
where that is.
And, honestly, within minutes, sometimes an hour, I've got it.
I've found it.
And also, with my memory, it slips a little bit when
you get older, year by year.
I just say to Holy Spirit, I need to know the name of this person in this
particular situation that I need to I need, I just need that name, and I can't
bring it up, or I need the name of a book, and I can't bring it up, and it comes
up, it always comes up, it may not be.
Instantly, but it will come.
And I feel blessed about that to know how the principles, God's
principles work in my life.
Uh, the principles of prosperity too, I didn't know about that.
And I realized that it's all biblical, what I'm being taught.
It's not, uh, prosperity necessarily for finances, which is wonderful.
It's also, how do I prosper mentally?
How do I prosper physically?
How do I prosper, uh, emotionally?
And so on and so on.
How do I prosper, uh, relationally?
Teach me all that, God.
I want to know how to prosper.
I know that's a catch word that some people don't like.
Uh, and I, I can understand why.
But, I like it and I'm going to use it.
And another thing I've learned is I didn't know about the salvation.
I knew about salvation, that God loves us and wants us to be a part of his family,
that Jesus came to die for us so that we would be free of all our past sins
and, and um, would have eternal life.
Now that's, that's a wonderful, there's a lot to that and it
takes a while to digest all that.
But I learned about the salvation package.
And I learned that, um, it's being born again and having wholeness.
It's healing, mentally, physically, spiritually,
emotionally, uh, relationally.
And, um, God has given me protection.
In that salvation, I've got protection, and I use that a lot.
God, I, I'm in this situation, I'm not feeling real comfortable, help me.
I drive a lot, I travel a lot, so I need that.
Um, he has taught me in the salvation package about wisdom and knowledge,
using his wisdom and his knowledge instead of depending on my own, and
I'm so grateful to, to know about that.
Um, preservation of life, uh, making me gloriously complete.
saved.
Um, in the salvati
Uh, working through him, I'm a conduit for this, or I'm a conduit for that.
I'm always a conduit for God, uh, in whatever area he, he needs me.
And he's taught me about having vision, and a purpose, and my husband right now.
And I right now have bought some property that we're, we have a vision for and
some people have said to me, Becky, uh, you're too, you're too old to be
thinking about this and this and this.
I said, I am not.
No.
do not stop and will never stop.
Um, but anyway, God has given us visions, both Jesse and I, and he's
given us a purpose driven life.
we are purposeful in our life, in our visions.
And I would say that the most important thing he has given me
through Jesus is Holy Spirit.
Having that voice to listen to all day long, every day.
I had to develop it.
I had to learn.
What I've learned is, that the enemy came to, the enemy came to
kill, steal, and destroy, but, uh, God wants us to have abundant life.
And that's a, there's a lot of abundance in salvation, and the
salvation package that I have had to, to grow in and learn more about.
Well, do you have any specific heroes in your life as we've
kind of listened to your story?
Anything?
Anyone who stands out as a big hero to you?
the first person that stands out is my mother.
She was an extraordinary woman, um, she was soft spoken, she was kind,
she listened more than she talked.
Which was good.
Um, she raised five children, all different, all five of us are different.
And, and I think she did it kindly, well, and we all just adored her.
So, she did a good job.
She did a good job.
And I think my husband, he's, he's just a standout in my life.
Yeah, we did go through hard times.
particularly in the first 10 years of our marriage.
But we've grown spiritually, and he's been a guide spiritually, in areas that
I probably would not have explored.
He's brought those areas, uh, to my attention.
And he's a man, he's a man who prays, he's a man who meditates.
He, we pray every day, we pray every day together.
This is not something we did in our early years.
But we do now, we pray every day and we watch programs on
television that are uplifting.
We try to do that, but we're not always successful there because I still like
some of those whirly programs, but, Right.
but, but I, I appreciate having somebody to share those problems with.
I do.
and then the other person was the person I mentioned when I was
in Kansas City in my 30s, Steve.
Because of his bluntness and his, truthfulness of dealing
with me, and he just changed the direction of, my spiritual life.
actually I'd say he really kind of recharged it, he made me care about
myself and grow in that area, and, um, So those are the three that
stand out in my mind right now.
There are many others.
There's people in my family.
Your mom, for one, and, uh, other people in my family who
I adore and who I listen to.
And, uh, my sister.
Flornette was another one.
She, she was a great example of a good mom and person to love the,
loves the Lord, love the Lord.
She passed away, but she, she um, she loved me as, As a mother would
love a child, as I was growing up, she was like my other mother.
And I'll never, never forget what she's done for me.
That's great.
Okay.
Well, if there.
If there was anything that you want the audience to know about God,
what would you want them to know?
Well, I think what I went over a while ago with the salvation package,
I think to know all that about God and what He wants for us, that God is
good, God does not put diseases on us, God does not cause us to have wrecks
and accidents and things like that.
He's a God of love.
But there's also another element in this, the atmosphere, and that
is, we call it the enemy or other principalities that we can't even
see that are working in our lives.
And I would say, study.
study the Bible, the New and Old Testament, both testaments.
Some people don't want to study the Old Testament, but they're both important
because the, Old Testament prophesies about Jesus, and prophesies about how,
and tells us how God worked, how, how God works, had, how God worked with
Israelites, and how He was disappointed in them and things happened and they
got away from God and things happened and then they got back close to God.
This back and forth, kind of like what I was telling you
about my life, has been like.
And, um, the New Testament, which is about Jesus and his followers.
both of them are about history, but the New Testament's about Jesus, if
you would read the book of John.
You can, um, He was one of Jesus disciples and it really is a good, um,
springboard to learn about Jesus life.
And right now I'm studying Revelation.
At one time I didn't want to study Revelation.
This is the last chapter in the 66 books in the Bible.
But now I do because I know it's, I'm doing it with the group and Jesse leads
a small group on Tuesday night and, um, we're, we're studying Revelation
and it's kind of fun to do it together with somebody and we're all studying
from different Bibles and different, um, commentaries, I guess you'd say,
and just kind of adding our little two cents worth, all of us, what we've
learned, in just kind of a neat way.
to learn about the last book of the Bible.
Yeah.
The hard one.
times, the hard one.
What the end times are going to be like.
And, yeah, so.
Okay.
Well, I have another question for you.
Yes, ma'am.
When I think of you, I do always think of adventure.
Like you're just very adventurous.
Um, and even in your story, like you can see how you like adventure.
So what is the most adventurous thing you've ever done?
Oh my goodness.
I think going to live in Jerusalem was the most adventurous
because I knew, I knew nobody.
Yeah.
It was a whole life I had to create for myself.
I had no car, so I had to figure all that out.
But, um, to meet the, so many different kind of people in Jerusalem.
I met Jews,
I lived on the east side with the Palestinians, but I would
visit the Jews on the west side.
So, so Allie, um, you were asking me about my favorite,
Becky: Your, your most adventurous moment,
the most,
Ally: I said it.
General is love.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, I also, I think that bus tour that took across the United States
showed me that I could do things by myself and, you know, feel protected,
made a lot of new people and enjoy.
my wanderlust,
Becky: yes.
Ally: that's it.
Becky: All right.
Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with me.
Ally: Well, thank you, and I love you, and, uh, hug those boys for me.
Becky: I will for sure.
Ally: Thank you for doing this
Becky: Absolutely.
Cailin: We hope you've been blessed by today's story.
if you've heard something that you think could help someone you know, please share
it using the link in the show notes.
Also, if you will give Faith and Purpose a positive review on your podcast platform,
you could help more people find it.
You will probably never know how that small effort can make a big
difference in someone's life, but our Heavenly Father knows.
Speaking of sharing, if you know a Jesus follower with a story to tell, please send
them a link to Faith and Purpose Podcast.
It may encourage them to tell their story.
That person may even be you.
Our only criteria is that Jesus be glorified.
So when you're ready to tell how Jesus has impacted your life, you can let Jesse
know at his ministry website, jesseduke.
net.
There you can download guidelines that will make it easy to
prepare to tell your story.
Thank you for listening today and Shalom.